THE ARTICLE (La Artikolo).
96. There is no word in Esperanto for the Indefinite Article. It is, as in Latin, implied in the noun, if the sense in English requires it.
Examples.—Tio estas floro = That is a flower. Patrino kaj filo = Mother and son. Ĉu vi vidas birdon sur tiu arbo? = Do you see a bird on that tree?
97. The definite article is la = the. It is, as in English, the same for all genders, numbers, and cases.
Examples.—La patro = The father. La patrino = The mother. Donu al mi la libron = Give me the book. Ili estas la lernantoj diligentaj = They are the diligent scholars.
98. As regards its use, la is used very nearly as the definite article "the" in English, namely, to show that one is speaking of something known or definite, as opposed to what is indefinite.
Examples.—En la mezo de la korto mi vidis du infanojn el la apuda vilaĝo = In the middle of the yard I saw two children of the neighbouring village. In this sentence the yard and village are each defined by the article la, as they are also in English by "the." But if we omit the article the sentence runs:—En la mezo de korto mi vidis du infanojn el apuda vilaĝo = In the middle of a yard I saw two children of a neighbouring village. In this case the children might have been in any yard, and have belonged to any village in the neighbourhood of the speaker.
99. There are, however, cases in which the article is often used in Esperanto, though omitted in English, and also vice versa.
(a). It is usually used before nouns denoting the totality of persons or things.
Examples.—La homo estas mortema = Man is mortal. La homoj estas mortemaj = Men are mortal. La medicino estas scienco kaj la pentrado arto = Medicine is a science and painting an art. Kelkaj kuracistoj pretendas, ke la vino estas malutila al la sano = Some doctors maintain that wine is hurtful to health. Sen la akvo nia terglobo rapide fariĝus dezerto = Without water our earth would rapidly become a desert. La nokto estis tiel nigra, kiel la peĉo = The night was as dark as pitch. La azenoj amas la kardojn = Donkeys love thistles. La vento kaŭzas ofte teruran detruon en kelkaj landoj = Wind often causes terrible ruin in some countries. (In this case la vento means wind in general, spoken of as a whole, but "To-day we shall have wind" (meaning some wind) would be: Hodiaŭ ni havos venton.) Hajlo falas = Hail is falling (viz., some hail), but La hajlo estas tre malutila al la vinbero = Hail is very injurious to grapes (to the grape), means hail in general.
(b). It is not used before proper names, for the simple reason that they cannot be more definite than they are in themselves. In English it is sometimes used and sometimes not.[13]
Examples.—Danubo = The Danube. Tibro = The Tiber. Mediteraneo = The Mediterranean. Alpoj = The Alps. Unuiĝintaj Ŝtatoj Amerikaj (or, Usono) = The United States of America.
Footnote:
[13] This is too strict. In practice the definite article is often used before proper names, and one can say (e.g.) la Alpoj, la Mediteraneo, etc.
(c). If, however, a proper name is preceded by a qualifying word, the article is used.
Examples. La glora poeto, Dante = The famous poet, Dante. La imperiestro de Japanujo = The Emperor of Japan. La bona reĝino Viktorio = The good Queen Victoria.
100. The article may be used sometimes where, in English, we use a possessive pronoun.
Examples.—Li havas doloron en la kapo = He has a pain in his (the) head. Ŝi prezentis al mi la manon = She offered me her hand. Mi malkovris la okulojn = I uncovered my eyes (see also par. [134](a)).
(a). It is also frequently used instead of a possessive pronoun in speaking of one’s own relatives,
or when there is no doubt as to the person to whom the article la refers.
Examples.—Mi amas la patron = I love my (the) father. Iru al la patrino = Go to your (the) mother. Kie estas la kuzo? = Where is your (the) cousin? La patro staras apud la filo = The father stands by (at the side of) his (the) son.
101. The article is almost always used before numeral adjectives showing the day, hour, month, etc., when these nouns are understood.
Example.—Hodiaŭ estas la dudek-sepa (tago) de Marto = To-day is the 27th of March.
(a). Its use is optional before the names of the seasons, and also before each separate noun or adjective.
Examples.—En la vintro, or, En vintro = In the winter. En la somero, or, En somero = In the summer. La arboj, la floroj kaj la kreskaĵoj de la ĝardeno (or, La arboj, floroj kaj kreskaĵoj) = The trees, (the) flowers and (the) plants of the garden.
(b). It is not generally used after ĉiuj = all, or, all the.
Example.—Mi ne vidis ĉiujn arbojn en la ĝardeno = I did not see all the trees in the garden.
(c). It is not used after da (see par. [259]).
N.B.—From the foregoing remarks it will be seen that the English student will have no difficulty in the use of the article, if he be careful to use it with words defining a class or the totality of persons or things. He will get a good idea of its use if he will carefully study the first few exercises in the "Ekzercaro," or Exercises 1 to 4 in [Part III].
In case of doubt whether the article should be used or not, it is better to omit it.
102. Elision.—The final A of the article may be omitted in certain cases (see par. [56] and Rule 16, par. [94]).